Page 43 of Ruining Him

“I’m not sure what I think anymore,” I admit, my eyes meeting hers, and we just stare at each other for a couple of seconds. It’s not like our usual stares; those are normally either heated or full on glares. This is just… us staringintoeach other.

She breaks eye contact and bites her lip before giving her head a shake as though she’s trying to dispel whatever’s on her mind.

“Let’s go, pretty boy,”she says with a clap of her hands and darts towards the ring.

This could get messy.

I can’t wait.

TWENTY-SEVEN

LANA

The very last thing I expected to be doing today is facing off with Cole in a boxing ring in his basement.

According to the blueprints I’d studied before coming here that first night, this was just a wine cellar. If I’d known he had it kitted out the way he does, I might have made him bring me here sooner.

Seriously, this place is nice… for an amateur, at least. It could be better if he added some targets for knife throwing, a gun selection, and some other fun things, but I guess this works for what he needs it for.

I stand in the middle of the ring and wait for him to join me. Despite how well this place presents, there’s a lot of dust down here and it doesn’t look like it’s used often.

“You don’t come down here much?”

He ducks under the rope and stands opposite me, shaking his head.He’s taken off the T-shirt he was wearing, leaving him in only the gym shorts he changed into when we got back to his place. His toned abs are on display, and I’m not sure ifhe did it as a distraction technique or not, but I have a feeling it might just work.

Asshole.

“Not really. I usually use the campus gym with the guys and only really fight when I feel the need to.”

I nod in understanding.

We’re opposites, me and him. I fight because I have to do it to survive. He fights to feel alive.

I could go without fighting, he can’t.

I use it to burn off some energy.

He needs it to dispel his demons.

Is that what he’s doing right now? Using me as a way to fight them?Was he having a bad day, and bringing me down here is just what he needed to get his head clear? Or is there another reason I’m here?

I know I shouldn’t read into it, but I can’t make sense of it all. He can’t stand me, so why would he bring me down here, show me this place, and fight with me if he didn’t need to? I know his schedule, so I know that he should be in class right now. None of it makes any sense to me.

“Let’s go, little menace,” he says, bouncing around a little on the balls of his feet and circling me.His usually tidy hair is messed up a little from running his fingers through it, and right now he looks nothing like the persona he shows the rest of the world.

What would the rest of the school think if they saw the real Cole Aston?

Would they still worship him and his friends the way they do? Or would they make him an outcast, like they’ve done to me?

I roll my eyes at myself. There’s no point in wonderingwhat would happen, because Cole will never let the world see the real him. He’ll never reveal his darkness to anyone.

Anyone but me, a small voice in the back of my mind whispers, and I shake my head to focus on what’s happening in the present, only to realize Cole is still circling me, a frown on his face.

I cross my arms across my chest and raise a brow, making him sigh and stop his motions.

“I’m not going to tire myself out and let you get the upper hand like I did the last time we fought. I learn from my mistakes, little menace.”

“That’swhat you think I was doing? Letting you tire yourself out?” I scoff. “I could be fighting with a bullet wound and still beat you, pretty boy.”